It would not happen again.
He would find Felix and set things right between them, then he would go to Olivia’s house and apologize for how he had treated her. If she was willing to be his wife, they would be married as soon as he could arrange it. He already had the special license he’d procured before he’d asked her to marry him the first time. All she had to do was say ‘yes.’
Chapter 25
RECANT OF PRIOR STATEMENTS. I wish to make my official apology to Lady Allen, wife of the deceased Earl of Allen. Lady Allen has shown nothing but grace and kindness to any soul who enters her orbit, and it is with a heavy heart that I admit any accusations placed against her have been falsified. The late Lord Allen was not poisoned but passed peacefully in his sleep after a long battle with consumption. Any further accusations should be met with the toughest of skepticism. You will hear no more from me.
“Lady Allen, will you be attending Lady Fairweather’s ball?”
“Oh, Lady Allen, who is your modiste?”
“Are you free for the next dance, Lady Allen?”
Olivia struggled to keep the smile on her face as the crowd pressed in on her. She should have been ecstatic. She had, after all, done what she had sought to do. Lady Felix had published her retraction, and as a result, the entiretonwanted her to attend their events, or find a husband for their daughter, or judge their art competition.
“Yes, I will be attending Lady Fairweather’s ball,” she told the woman to her left. Then she swiveled her head and found a wide-eyed debutante. “A lovely Parisian woman named Madame Julian designed this gown. I am certain she would appreciate your patronage.” Finally, she addressed the Earl ofBellows. “I am parched, my lord. Could you fetch me a glass of champagne?”
The man raced off to do her bidding, and she was not surprised when two dandies quickly took his place.
They were only willing to entertain her as long as she could provide them with what they wanted: mentorship, popularity, attention. The moment she fell out of favor, they would vanish like birds spooked by the sound of a shot.
Even Thel had come to her wanting her patronage for Constance, of whom she had not seen a hair since her fight with the marquess. She dearly wanted to know if Constance had still committed herself to Mr. Dawson, but she did not dare send another missive, as Thel had returned her first unopened.
She was not naïve enough to believe she could change his mind. He was just like the earl, presenting one face to society while behaving entirely differently in private.
The same way you adopt the role of Lady Allen?
She chased the voice away and concentrated on Lady Deirdre, who shoved a black-haired waif forward. The girl’s eyes were enormous in her narrow face. She was pretty, although with a pinched look about her, as if she had never had enough to eat.
It was not an unlikely scenario. The newest fad for girls was swooning, which was seen as graceful. In reality, it did nothing except make them more fragile and easier for the men of society to manage.
Olivia bared her teeth in what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “I apologize, but my schedule is quite full.”
She could not take another girl under her wing and risk repeating what had happened to Constance and Lady Mason. It would break what was left of her heart.
She searched the crowd without realizing for whom she was looking, and when she spotted Constance, the shock startleda gasp from her lips. The girl was surrounded by men and women chattering away to get her attention.
Lord Bellows returned at that moment with her champagne. She downed it, held up the glass for a passing servant to take, then took her savior’s arm. “I desire some fresh air.”
The man smiled. “Of course, Lady Allen. Perhaps I could call you ‘Olivia’?”
“If that is your wish, my lord.” She did not care what he called her. She just had to get out of the ballroom before Thel, who had to be present if his daughter was, saw her. The jagged edges of the wound he had sliced across her heart had not yet come together. She had spent each night since their fight replaying the moments leading up to her dismissal, imagining what she might have said to change the inevitable outcome.
When they reached the hedge maze, she relaxed her death grip on Lord Bellows’s arm. She was safe. Thel was unlikely to venture so far from the ballroom. The gardens were the domain of lovers, not uptight men who insisted on believing in a fantasy. Love. What a ridiculous notion. Even if it existed, she was better off without it. Love brought vulnerability, which led to pain.
“I have been waiting for this day for months,” Lord Bellows said. He shoved her against the foliage.
She should have screamed, or struggled, or done anything to fight back, but she had lost hold of Lady Allen. She was only scared, traumatized Olivia. She clenched her eyes shut and waited for it to be over, only to hear a strangled grunt, and then the hands clasped around her upper arms loosened, and she was left leaning into the hedge.
She fluttered her eyelids open. The man cupped his crotch, his face purple, his teeth bared. Constance stood next to him, her fists balled and held at her chin, her eyes narrowed.
“You bitch.” Lord Bellows struggled upright. “I’ll—”
“Do nothing,” Olivia said. “Unless you would like rumors of your inability to perform to become public knowledge. You don’t have any children, do you, Lord Bellows?”
He scowled. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Constance flitted to her side and took her arm. “I would love to hear the story of how Lord Bellows propositioned you but could not stand at attention.”
